Portsmouth’s road to D-III final anything but smooth

Thursday

Nov 8, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By MIKE ZHePortsmouth Herald

PORTSMOUTH — Good teams make adjustments. Good players do, too.

When the Portsmouth High School football team opened training camp back in August, it had a number of largely unproven candidates vying for playing time, with cornerback Chris Main and inside linebacker Jake Becker among them.

Flash forward three months, and coaches can’t imagine life without them. Not even for a snap.

The third-seeded Clippers (7-2, 6-2 Division III) visit No. 2 Milford (7-3, 6-2 Division III) in the Division III semifinals on Saturday, a chance for the banged-up, defending state champs to hit the road and earn a spot in a fifth straight title game.

It’s been no smooth ride for Portsmouth this fall, which has had to deal with a merry-go-round at quarterback and injuries to key players, including season-ending ones to speedsters Jack Mackey and Peter Hamblett, who were slotted in as offensive threats and starting cornerbacks.

Instead, it’s been a chance for some supporting cast members to take on starring roles. Nobody more than Becker and Main.

“I thought I’d play a little more offense than defense, but I didn’t expect to play this big a role,” said Becker, a 6-foot, 190-pound junior. “I thought I was just going to play. I didn’t realize I was actually going to be in a role where I had to step up and make plays for my team.

“I expected to be just another guy. Instead I’m like a leader.”

In one sense, Becker and Main are both making up for lost time.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Main, a senior who also plays wide receiver on offense — and handles the kickoffs, place-kicking and, if needed, the punting — played soccer his first two years of high school. He went out for football as a junior but found himself looking up at good, experienced players on the depth chart.

Slated to add depth at two different positions on defense he’s settled in as a starting cornerback and been solid. At receiver, he’s caught 10 passes for 72 yards, and scored the only touchdown in a 24-6 loss to Milford two weeks ago, grabbing a late scoring pass from Connor DiCesare.

“Chris Main is one of our kids that literally doesn’t come off the field,” said assistant coach Kevin Mills, who’s serving as defensive coordinator this year. “He was more a utility guy at the beginning. By the end of the year, he was one of our most valuable guys on defense.”

“It is a lot, but I love it,” said Main. “Anything I can do to help.”

He takes particular pride in special teams, where he’s kicking this year for the first time. His strong leg has translated into a pair of field goals from 30 and 22 yards, after special teams coach — and head baseball coach — Tim Hopley approached him in the spring.

“One day at baseball practice, ‘Hop’ asked me if I wanted to try kicking. He knew I’d played soccer in the past,” said Main. “I gave it a shot and it’s been working out so far.”

Becker also watched a good portion of last year from the sidelines, but for different reasons. A separated shoulder kept him out of some games during the regular season; late in the 41-6 win at Bedford in the championship, he broke his leg, an injury that wiped out his basketball season.

“I thought I had the potential to play. I just got hurt so many times,” said Becker.

“He was happy to put that in the rear-view mirror this season,” said Mills. “He’s aggressive and not afraid to get after people.”

With 12 receptions for 219 yards, he’s the Clippers’ second-leading receiver after Colin MacDonald. On defense, he’s one of the team’s best tacklers.

“He’s just a hard worker. He never stops,” said Main. “There’s no off switch with him. On offense he blocks better than most of our other guys and on defense he’s just a good tackler.”

While the Clippers have only clicked in spurts offensively, using five different players under center due to injuries, the defense has been more consistent. It’s allowing just 13.9 points and its first unit has only given up 20 or more points once, in the loss at Milford.

“The good thing about this year’s team is that the guys who filled in didn’t complain about it,” said Mills. “They just came in and did the job.”

After watching more than they’d prefer a year ago, Becker and Main are atop that list. In a lot of different ways.

“I’d almost rather be able to do a little bit of everything than one thing really well,” said Main. “I think it’s important to be able to help out in all aspects.”